My QS1R failed recently. The fault was the 1.2V supply, which is fed from an L1117 1.2 regulator.

Running the 1.2V rail from an external supply showed a current draw around 300mA when listening to a broadcast station with SDRMAX V software, but around double that current when running 7 slices with CW Skimmer.

The original regulator, which uses the PCB as a heatsink, seems inadequate for the current needed by the Cyclone III FPGA. I tried an LM317 (TO220) regulator with a small heatsink, however the heatsink reaches over 90C running 7 x slices with Skimmer.

Before I bolt the regulator to the case, has anyone  checked their QS1R for boiling hot regulators, modified theirs, or has mine an overheating fault? By the way, Skimmer works with multiple slices, as does the QS1R when used to listen “single channel” as in broadcast station listening.

Thanks

Dave G4AON